AIG Confirms Liddy Named CEO

American International Group (AIG Quote)confirmed Friday it elected Edward Liddy as chairman and CEO, succeeding Robert Willumstad who was forced out by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson after the U.S. government bailed out the insurance giant.

Liddy is the former head of insurer Allstate(ALL Quote).

AIG said Friday in a statement that Stephen F. Bollenbach, who was named lead independent director in June, continues in that role.

Earlier this week, AIG received an $85 billion bridge loan from the Federal Reserve aimed at keeping the insurer out of bankruptcy and preventing the acceleration of a world credit crisis.

In an interview Thursday with the Wall Street Journal, Liddy said he hopes to keep intact as many of the company's largest insurance operations as possible in a publicly traded company, after selling assets to pay back a federal loan.

Liddy said his plan isn't to liquidate, the Journal reports. "There will be a company at the end of this," he said. "It'll be smaller; it'll be a lot nimbler."